Record-breaking year for UC Davis donations

Nearly 40,000 donors committed $149.1 million to UC Davis during the 2012-13 fiscal year, surpassing the previous year's total of $132.4 million and marking the seventh consecutive year that philanthropic gifts exceeded $100 million.

The university had a record breaking year for student support having raised $21.7 million for student scholarships, fellowships, awards and activities, more than double the previous year's total. Additionally, this past fiscal year was the best year on record for giving by alumni, with more than $17.4 million raised to support UCD students, faculty and programs, including a $1 million gift from UCD alumna Ann Pitzer to support scholarships through the UCD Education Abroad Center.

"Philanthropic support plays a critical role in helping UCD be a leader in addressing some of the world's most important and complex challenges," said UCD Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi. "It also makes a tremendous difference in the lives of our students and faculty by advancing the student experience and our stellar academic and research programs. That is why we are so grateful to our donors for their continued support."

UC Davis received gifts from donors in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) and 37 countries during the 2012-13 fiscal year. Californians donated $74.7 million, while nearly $5.6 million came from donors in New York and $3.5 million came from residents of Virginia. Within California, the largest amount of donations, nearly $19 million, came from San Francisco donors. Donations from other California counties include: Yolo, $8.1 million; Alameda, $6.4 million; San Diego, $5.5 million; Sacramento, $5.3 million; and Los Angeles, $2.9 million.

Eleven donors made cumulative gifts of $1 million, and $46.7 million came from gifts under $100,000.

"We are thankful to each and every one of our donors for their support of UC Davis," said Shaun Keister, vice chancellor for development and alumni relations and president of the UCD Foundation. "We are especially pleased by the show of support from our alumni donors who are truly living the Aggie tradition of giving back in a big way."

Here are some of the year's philanthropic highlights:

Current and past members of the UCD Foundation Board of Trustees and UCD administrators personally gave more than $1 million to create The UCD Foundation Matching Fund for Student Support, allowing the university to raise about $4 million and create 40 endowed scholarships and fellowships.

The university hosted its first Stride for Aggie Pride 5K run, which was organized by students and raised about $17,500 for student emergency aid through We Are Aggie Pride and scholarships through the ASUCD Awards Endowment Fund.

UC Davis reached a milestone of having 150 endowed chair positions. This accomplishment comes just four years after the university celebrated its 100th endowed faculty position, a milestone that took 100 years to achieve.

The university raised $30 million in 30 days from Dec. 15, 2012 to Jan. 15, 2013.

The largest amount of philanthropic support, $60.3 million, came in for research; the largest gift from a private foundation was a $10 million gift to the UCD Center for Watershed Sciences from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation.

Each of UC Davis' 10 colleges and professional schools received philanthropic contributions.

The School of Veterinary Medicine garnered the largest amount of philanthropic support, having raised $35.8 million, more than double the amount raised by the school in 2011-12 and the largest fundraising year for the school in the past 10 years. The School of Education celebrated the greatest year of fundraising in its history, raising more than $4.5 million.

The UCD Health System raised $23.3 million in philanthropic support during 2012-13 and achieved the highest employee giving rate of the UC campuses with a health system. Additionally, the UCD Health System celebrated the grand opening of the UCD Comprehensive Cancer Center expansion project. The project was made possible in large part because of the philanthropic support of nearly 1,000 donors who committed more than $9.5 million toward the expansion project during a 10-year period.

This year's philanthropic support is part of the university's first comprehensive fundraising campaign -- The Campaign for UCD -- which publicly launched in October 2010. As of June 30, 2013, the university raised $973.4 million through The Campaign for UCD in support of its students, faculty, staff and programs.